Parry Mitchell, Baron Mitchell
Parry Andrew Mitchell, Baron Mitchell (born 6 May 1943) is a British businessman and Labour member of the House of Lords. On 10 May 2000, Mitchell was created a life peer as Baron Mitchell, of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden,[1] and introduced in the House of Lords on 24 May 2000.[2]
Parry Mitchell holds a B.Sc (Econ) from the University of London and an MBA from Columbia Business School New York.
As a multi-faceted entrepreneur he founded, grew and subsequently sold, three international companies in the IT services sector: Standard Chartered Leasing Ltd; United Leasing plc and Syscap plc.
Today his interest is in start-up companies. He is a director of an iPad App start up in Manhattan, called Zuse - a multitasking browser, and he is also chairman of Instant Impact, based in London.
As a political entrepreneur he helped found the SDP in 1980 and stood twice (unsuccessfully) for Parliament: in Ealing Acton (1983) and then in Salisbury (1987).
He is also an entrepreneur in philanthropy, and formed and chaired the eLearning Foundation (which provides laptops for disadvantaged children); He founded an initiative called Making Connections which enables Israeli and British academics to collaborate on scientific research projects; He chaired the Coexistence Trust whose mission it was to encourage dialogue between Muslim and Jewish students on UK campuses. He was ennobled in 2000 and takes the Labour whip. He served on the Science and Technology Select Committee. In 2012 he was appointed Shadow Business Minister but stepped down in 2013. In July 2013 he was appointed as Labour's Enterprise Adviser.
He persuaded the Government to reverse its position and back an amendment to regulate payday lending which became law in 2014.
He is married to Hannah Mitchell (née Lowy), a film-maker and philanthropist.[3]
References
- ^ "No. 55847". The London Gazette. 15 May 2000.
- ^ "House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings of Wednesday 24 May 2000".
- ^ "Lady Hannah Lowy Mitchell". Women for Women.